Game Over
by prettypryde
Summary: Set after (the ideas for) season 5. Kitty is called back to the X-Men while The Brotherhood has signed on with S.H.I.E.L.D. and will be trained with the X-Men—that means running into an ex and a long time enemy. In a mission gone bad both teams are trapped in a diabolical simulation together and have to find a way out. Kitty might rethink her love of computers after this. Kietro


**Okay-here's the first chapter! The prompt, for those of you who don't follow on tumblr is:**

'_Our muses are destined to run into each other in a maze and fall for each other on the way out'_

**So I'm taking a few liberties with it but you'll see that later, when something actually happens. In the meantime, this is just an intro chapter to let you know where the teams are at and to get them working together again. We'll call it a prologue of sorts. I wrote it before class (have class in an hour and I have to shower still) so it might not be the best writing you've ever seen. Again, sorry about that but I hope you still enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own it, X-Men Evolution ( and Astonishing X-Men, where some ideas also came from ) are not mine but marvel's.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Years?<p>

It had been, hadn't it?

It felt like _lifetimes, _especially for a guy who had all the time in the world.

All the time in the world and all he'd spent the last few years doing was laying around with the rest of his useless team, convinced this was what hell was.

It'd been _ages _since he'd donned his costume, since the Brotherhood had any mission—be it from for Mystique or Magneto. When they were no longer central in the power-play against Xavier and the X-Geeks, they were left to gather dust. Soon the rest world followed suit, content to forget about the group of unruly mutants. Of course, it didn't forget that they _were_ mutants and, naturally, the opportunities afforded to _normal_ people were still firmly denied to them. At first it'd felt like an extended (and well-deserved) vacation...until reality set in. It _wasn't_, they'd just been discarded. Useless.

To add insult to injury, his father _joined_ the X-Geeks - what a riot - and founded his own paradise, Genosha. _He didn't even bother to tell me about it_. That was the worst, finding out from the _news _what his father's plans were. After that, Pietro wanted nothing to do with the island of misfit toys. No, he'd make his own way.

Of course, that was easier in principle than practice.

In practice it meant sticking out agonising years with the rest of his slow team. It was even more dull now that they'd worn out the fun of all the old things: all of the video games they had were played through several times, they'd learned every card game known to man (probably), the TV was still shit no matter how many days they spent trying to fix the reception. Even messing with the X-Men lost it's fun.

Not long after the last time they'd donned their uniforms to help - _again_ - the original team of X-Geeks split, leaving behind the New Mutants and even newer recruits. Of course, for the longest time that was what the Brotherhood had wanted—to drive out the snotty Xavier kids. But the new ones were even dumber than the last ones and, somehow, provoking them wasn't as fun. It wasn't long until they too lost their appeal.

So when S.H.I.E.L.D. turned up and the world suddenly remembered the untapped potential sitting on their asses in the Bayville Boarding House, well, Pietro couldn't refuse.

He _wanted _to.

But he couldn't. Because that meant resigning himself to this life for an even longer forever than it already had been. And he wasn't sure his sanity could take it. He needed something new, something exciting. Even if it meant doing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dirty work.

Too bad they didn't tell him about the additional mandatory training with the X-Men _before _he'd signed and dotted their contract.

* * *

><p>Years.<p>

It felt almost surreal to be back at the mansion. She hadn't been back since Jean...

Nothing had changed—the building looked exactly the same as she remembered it. But somehow, _everything _had changed. (Or maybe it was just her.) Kitty had been called by the Professor _personally _over to take Scott's place and, since that moment, her life felt like a weird slo-mo dream. Apparently Scott decided to _ditch _the team and follow that Emma Frost _witch _to the Hellfire Club. Then again, from what she'd heard, he hadn't been much good _on _the team after everything that happened. She wanted to be mad at him for everything, for not caring about anyone or anything, she _really _did, but she understood. Or she was trying to. Jean was like a part of Scott, they shared a weird mental connection thing. Emma, on the other hand...that praying mantis had no reason to take Scott away and uproot _her _life.

That woman was _evil_. Like Mystique levels of evil. And probably controlling Scott, forcing him to leave the team without a leader.

Or, well, not anymore.

Apparently she was going to be filling that role. Yeah, surreal was _definitely_ the right word for this whole thing. She didn't feel remotely prepared for the job, but she couldn't deny that it had a nice ring to it—Kitty Pryde, leader of the X-Men and esteemed faculty member. Or, rather, leader of the New X-Men. She wondered if it'd ever feel the same as it used to. At least the Professor assured her that he'd try to track down some of their old friends and comrades-in-arms to join the new revival. Rogue was helping Scott but hopefully, when hearing her old bestie was back in town, she'd come back. Kurt too-but she knew it was unfair to uproot him from circus life in Germany. She wanted them back...but she didn't want to do to their life what'd been done to hers. They were all trying to forget...

Even she kind of wanted nothing more than to stay at university and get a Computer Science degree and be _done _with hero life. Done with all of the fighting between the humans and mutants, with all of the dangers and missions. To just be _normal_. It'd always been her goal but whereas in her Freshman year of high school she'd wanted to be normal as a means of fitting in, well, _now _she just wanted to be normal as an escape. Because it had to be better than the alternative, than maybe losing someone else who was closer to her.

But she was fooling herself...

Normal she was not.

And, like it or not, the younger mutants _needed _someone to look out for them. Someone to protect them from going through all the things she had to. If she could keep that in mind, maybe coming back wouldn't be so harrowing.

With a sigh, she phased through the front door, voice catching in her throat a moment as she looked around, the memories crashing back. The time Kurt stole her toothpaste and she chased him up the steps shrieking at him to 'knock it off', Rogue and Remy sharing a _wayy _too long mistletoe kiss at Christmas time, Bobby icing his way through the halls and Berzerker's fizzing hands after slipping one too many times...

Everything was different.

But it was still nice to be back.

The lack of voices probably meant that they'd probably started the assembly already. She was already late and missing it. _And _she still had her bags to drop off at her room. Her old room. She swallowed, wondering what ghosts would haunt her there._  
><em>

Trudging up the wooden stairs, Kitty relieved more memories the more she saw of the mansion. God, it really had been home. But it felt like lifetimes ago.

She took a right at the end of the hall followed by another right-she still knew these hallways by heart. The third door on the left. Phasing inside, she found it to be so..._bare_. The walls had been painted over so that the pastel pink of her room was now a muted cream. All of the posters of the boy bands and movies she'd loved had been taken down - probably thrown away - and her twin size bed was made up. It felt like she was a guest in her own room.

But it was probably the Professor's way of offering her a blank canvas to start all over. To _not _live in the time when she used to live here.

It was probably better this way.

Letting her duffel bag fall to the carpet, followed soon after by her bulging backpack, Kitty made her way over to the small bed in the corner of the room, plopping down on it. Why couldn't things be easy again?

* * *

><p>She hadn't meant to drift off.<p>

In fact, she wouldn't have noticed she was sleeping at all if the mansion hadn't started going crazy, alarms blaring in what better _not _have been a drill.

_Some wake up call._ That had been something she _hadn't _missed. Rushing down the stairs with the other panicking students - and spotting a few familiar faces in the crowd - she huddled at the front door with the others, glad that she wasn't barefoot and in pyjamas like everyone else.

"What's going on?" she asked, gaze finding Bobby's.

"No idea, man. They just showed up."

Nodding, she turned to look out at the spectacle on the front lawn-three fully manned S.H.I.E.L.D. choppers and one Logan _trying _not to shred them all to pieces. Definitely best to let him handle it. Kitty couldn't make out what was being said or any of Logan's snarls over the constant thrumming of the helicopter blades, but she just _knew_ S.H.I.E.L.D. was pulling some kind of stunt that was testing his temper. The veins doing double time in his neck attested to that.

( If only she knew _just _what they were being signed up for. )

When Logan came stomping back to them - shooing away the students who 'should be in bed' - did he finally speak.

"We're cleanin' up Fury's mess for 'im again. Trainin' some new mutants for 'im 'cuz we, I quote, 'have the facilities'. Like _S.H.I.E.L.D. _doesn't have the resources. What's Fury's game?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has a team of mutants now too?"

Bobby's question gave voice to what they were all wondering.

"I guess so," came Logan's gruff reply. "Don' expect that'll change anythin'—just be careful with what you tell 'em."

S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't exactly on friendly terms with the X-Men and likely that wouldn't change, no matter _how_ many mutants they trained up. If anything, this was some ploy to uncover the X-Men's secrets for S.H.I.E.L.D. or something. Day one and politics were already making an appearance. _Great. _

"When do we start training them?"

"Next week."

_Seriously? _That gave her almost _zero _time to get used to being field leader.

_Double great._

* * *

><p><strong>Annnd that's that. Shitty intro chapter is shitty. muffled crying because how do people write the whole team? and make Logan sound good?**

**Yeaaah. Understatement to say this isn't the best writing. But I wanted to get _something_ on this thing out. There'll probably be one or two more slower chapters before things really pick up but I _promise _there will be actual Kitty/Pietro interaction next chapter~**

**Leave a review if you're so inclined!**

**Prettyprydexx**


End file.
